Good morning. Here’s what you need to know.
- Asian markets were up in overnight trading with theNikkei surging 2.9% after the dollar crossed the key 100 yen level. Europe is rallying, and U.S. futures are modestly higher.
- The dollar crossed the crucial ¥100 level yesterday.Today the yen weakened beyond 101 a dollar. This saw the Nikkei close up nearly 3% on Friday. The Bank of Japan’s efforts to bolster its economy by weakening its currency is already reported to be working. Click here to learn about Abenomics, the Japanese experiment that is captivating the world >
- Chinese lending totaled 792.9 billion yuan in April, beating estimates for 755 billion yuan. M2, a broader measure of money supply, increased 16.1% on the year, above expectations for a 15.5% rise. The only three indicators of Chinese monetary policy that you need to watch >
- Carl Ichan and Southeastern Asset Management, two of the largest Dell shareholders, have written to the company’s board with an alternate proposal to the buyout, according to the WSJ. This is part of Ichan and Southeastern’s effort to prevent Dell founder Michael Dell, and a private equity firm, from buying out the company.
- At 9:30 a.m. ET, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give the keynote address at the Chicago Fed’s banking conference.
- A woman has been rescued from the debris of the collapsed factory in Bangladesh after 17 days. 2,500 people were rescued in the immediate aftermath of the collapse and the death toll is said to have reached over 1,000. A fire broke out at another factory in Bangladesh earlier this week.
- UK Q1 construction output fell 2.4% on a quarterly basis, to the lowest level since Q4 1998.Construction accounts for 6.8% of the UK economy, and the revision is not expected to have a major impact on GDP. The biggest economic experiment of the last five years has ended in disaster >
- The Reserve Bank of Australia expects “below trend” growth of 2.5% this year. It also cut its inflation outlook to 2% in the year to December, down from 3%.
- The Treasury Budget for April is out at 2:00 P.M. ET. Consensus is for the monthly Treasury budget to post a surplus of $107.5 billion. Follow the release at Business Insider >
- Hong Kong’s economy grew 0.2% in Q1, below expectations for a 0.5% rise. This compares with a 1.4%